A civil rights victory

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:16:48 GMT  <== RKBA ==> 

Eric S. Raymond - commentary on the Maryland ruling in Woollard v. Sheridan. If it survives appeal, could change Maryland to a "shall issue" state.

Key sentences: “The Court finds that the right to bear arms is not limited to the home” and “A citizen may not be required to offer a ‘good and substantial reason’ why he should be permitted to exercise his rights. The right’s existence is all the reason he needs.”

The standard the judge is setting up for the constitutionality of firearms laws comes very near the “strict scrutiny” standard associated with First Amendment law. While the judge did not use the phrase “strict scrutiny”, he cited among reasons to strike down the law that it is not sufficiently narrowly tailored to the state’s public safety interests – a classic strict-scrutiny argument.

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